Friday, March 29, 2019

Monevo Review – An Excellent Place to Begin Your Loan Search

Looking for a loan? This is a great place to start. Monevo is free to use and can give you options in seconds. We’ll go through the pros and cons in our Monevo Review.

Monevo

's rating
9.3
Monevo
Interest Rates 8.5
Fees 10.0
Customer Service 9.0
Technology 9.8

Pros

  • Easy and quick application
  • Real-time offers
  • Applications won’t impact your credit score
  • Free to use
  • High loan amounts

Cons

  • Some lenders are excluded
  • You'll probably get solicited
  • It’s not the best for all loan purposes
  • No BBB certification

Table of Contents

Getting a personal loan is easier today than ever before. Long gone are the days of visiting your local bank branch and sitting down with a loan officer. Now, you can simply apply online for the loan you need, often in seconds, and wait for offers to roll in. This not only makes the process fast and easy, but also allows you to compare different lenders and find the rate you want.

Monevo is one of the companies that seeks to make personal loans quick and convenient. The online platform connects borrowers with lenders around the country, letting you easily compare multiple loans in one place.

Through Monevo, you’ll be matched with loans of up to $100,000 with interest rates ranging from 3.99% to 35.99% APR; finding this many competitive options could take you hours to do individually. With Monevo, you can do it in about 60 seconds.

So, what makes Monevo different than other lending platforms, and why should you consider this website when you’re ready to borrow?

What Is Monevo?

Founded in 2009 in the UK, but somewhat new to the U.S. scene, Monevo is yet another online loan matching platform. It seeks to connect borrowers who need funds with lenders who offer loans.

The difference between Monevo and all of the other aggregate websites out there is that Monevo works in real-time to get you the most up-to-date and accurate rates possible. This means that rather than getting generic, pre-set loan options (which may or may not match the actual loan offer you’re given in the end), Monevo will use their award-winning technology to communicate with lenders at the moment you submit your request.

They will submit your information and loan request to their lenders through an embedded API on their site. This allows Monevo to provide borrowers with any and all partner lenders who are willing to make an offer, along with up-to-the-minute rates and accurate terms.

Because Monevo works in real-time, borrowers are typically able to compare competitive offers from more lenders. This also allows them to get updated, and often lower, rates than elsewhere.

Try Monevo

Monevo Features

Monevo’s platform is easy-to-use and simple to navigate. This makes getting a personal loan faster than ever, while also ensuring that you don’t deal with the runaround that can be found elsewhere: out-of-date rates and baiting offers that magically change when you go to complete the borrowing process.

After submitting a lending request through Monevo’s simple platform, borrowers will be matched with an impressive number of offers.

Monevo platform

Get loan offers in seconds.

These offers will automatically be sorted by lowest APR, allowing you to immediately see the most competitive offer for which you qualify.

From there, you can sort offers according to other specifications. You can browse based on loan terms available, specific lenders who are making an offer, and even the total loan amount when all is said and done.

Once you thoroughly compare your offers and decide which one is right for you, you can click through to complete the process. Monevo will transfer you to your chosen lender’s website, where you will fill out any additional paperwork, give your disbursement preferences, and even link up a bank account for monthly payments.

Monevo Pricing

Monevo is completely free for borrowers to use. You won’t pay a single penny to be matched with multiple loan offers on the site, and you won’t owe anything if and when you choose the loan you want.

Instead, Monevo makes their money from the lenders with whom you’ll match on the site. They will collect a fee from the lender once you choose your loan, complete the application process, and receive your disbursement.

Try Monevo

How Do You Apply for Monevo?

Monevo makes it easy to apply online, with most applicants finding that the process takes as little as 60 seconds.

From the homepage you can simply select your desired loan amount, from as little as $1,000 all the way up to $100,000. Then, choose the purpose for the loan and your estimated credit score to begin the process.

Monevo apply screen

Easy to use.

Monevo will want to know a few personal details about you in the next step. These include your:

  • Name
  • Address (and your monthly payment on that home)
  • Date of birth
  • Email address
  • SSN
  • Vehicle ownership status
  • Highest education level
  • Employment status
  • Pre-tax income

Once you’ve provided all of this information, you will submit your loan request. While you do need to agree that your information will be shared with your chosen lending partner (who may then choose to conduct a hard inquiry), Monevo’s application will not impact your credit. This pre-qualification process only utilizes a soft pull, which will not show up on your credit report as an inquiry.

Monevo Security

Your provided information will be shared with potential lenders, in order to accurately match you with offers for which you qualify. However, Monevo takes your privacy very seriously. Any information transmitted and/or stored is protected with SSL encryption.

Mobile Accessibility

There is no mobile app for Monevo. However, their website is mobile-friendly and will make your application process simple whether you’re visiting from your desktop or a smartphone/tablet.

Try Monevo

Customer Service and Support

Have concerns about your personal loan application? You can email Monevo anytime at support@monevo.com. If you want to speak with a real person, they have phone numbers available online. There are four customer service regions to choose from: UK, USA, Australia, and Poland.

If you have questions or concerns about your specific loan offers, or the loan you choose to move forward with, you’re always able to contact that lender directly. Monevo’s job is just to connect you with those lenders, so they don’t have any role in the process moving forward.

Monevo Pros and Cons

There are plenty of reasons that you’ll want to consider Monevo for your next personal loan application. There are also a few things to keep in mind.

Monevo Pros:

  • Easy and quick application: Monevo’s online application takes about 60 seconds to complete. To get offers from this many lenders individually could take you hours.
  • Real-time offers: The loan results you receive aren’t generic offers; Monevo’s technology actually communicates with lenders in real-time to get you actual offers based on availability. There won’t be any surprises when you go to complete the process.
  • Applications won’t impact your credit score: Monevo’s process uses a “soft pull,” so you won’t hurt your credit score by requesting loan offers.
  • Free to use: It won’t cost you a penny to use Monevo, so there’s no risk.
  • Secure personal data: Monevo will share your details with potential lenders, but any personal information is SSL encrypted and protected.
  • Easy-to-compare results: You’ll begin to receive updated offers in as little as 2 minutes. These offers are sorted by the lowest APR, and you can also sort according to loan terms, specific lender, or total repayment amount.
  • High loan amounts: Few personal loan aggregators will allow you to request a loan greater than $25,000-40,000. With Monevo, however, you can ask for as much as $100,000; no matter what you need the loan for, you’re likely to get what you need here.

Monevo Cons:

  • Some lenders are excluded: Monevo will display offers from its lenders, and you’ll typically get a significant number to choose from. However, this list won’t include lenders who aren’t part of Monevo’s real-time platform. You may also want to shop around elsewhere, just to be sure you’re getting the best deal.
  • You’ll probably get solicited: When submitting your application, you’ll need to agree to allow your contact information to be shared with third-party lenders. This means that you could get unwanted phone calls or mail solicitations.
  • It’s not the best for all loan purposes: Whether Monevo’s loan offers are right for you depends on what you’re using the loan to cover. While you can technically use this loan for anything, it’s considered a “personal loan” and often comes with a higher interest rate than other loan types. If you’re looking to, say, consolidate student loans, you may get a better rate by applying for that specific loan type through a different lender/lending platform.
  • No BBB certification: Monevo isn’t certified by the Better Business Bureau, which may be concerning to some borrowers. However, this is likely due to the fact that the company originates in the UK.

Try Monevo

Monevo Alternatives

As great as Monevo is, it’s not the only borrower-lender platform around. If you want to get a second opinion, there are a few other great options to choose from. Some of them don’t offer loans as flexible–or with as low of rates–as Monevo, but they’re still great platforms to consider.

  • Prosper: This P2P lending platform connects borrowers needing loans between $2,000 and $40,000 with lenders wanting to loan funds. Rates range from 6.95% and 35.99% APR, with 2.4% to 5% origination fees.
  • LendingClub: Another P2P option, here, you can apply for loans from $1,000 to $40,000, at rates between 6.95% and 35.89% APR. Loan terms are between 36 and 60 months, and there is a 1-3% fee.
  • SoFi: This lending platform is best known for student loan refinancing, but also offers personal loan options. You can apply for loans between $5,000 and $100,000, at rates between 5.74% and 16.49% APR, depending on whether you choose auto-pay and whether you choose a fixed or variable rate. There are no origination fees through SoFi.
  • EVEN Financial: EVEN is very much like Monevo in that it’s not exactly a lender, but more of a lending aggregator. EVEN will scour the internet for the lowest rates for your own personal needs, and they’ll send you to one of their lending partners. Their sign up form is a bit more in depth than Monevo’s, but they’re definitely worth checking out.

Is Monevo Right for You?

If you’re looking for a quick loan application that can get you real-time offers in as little as a minute or two, you’ll find what you need with Monevo. The aggregator’s award-winning technology will find you up-to-the-minute offers from real lenders, based on your personal information.

Their pool of lenders is large but doesn’t include everyone, so you may still want to shop around a bit before signing on any dotted lines. However, if you want to get an accurate loan offer for anywhere from $1,000 to $100,000 (and at rates as low as 3.99% APR!), the free application through Monevo is an excellent place to start.

As long as you are 18 years old, an American citizen (UK, Australia, and Poland citizens can utilize Monevo’s foreign platforms), have a checking account, and have a credit score of Fair or better, you can apply.

Bottom Line

When searching for a loan, finding the terms and rates that are best for you can be tricky. By applying through Monevo, you’ll not only get free offers in real-time, but you’ll also be able to take advantage of some of the most competitive offers on the market.

Give Monevo a try the next time you need a personal loan, big or small.

Try Monevo

Topics: Personal FinanceReviews

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Thursday, March 28, 2019

Elliot by Redekop Faye in Chilliwack

Elliot by Redekop Faye is a new 4-storey condo development located in Chilliwack. A contemporary fascade complemented by lush manicured grounds, perfectly complement The Elliot’s greenbelt setting. Oversize patios, granite counters, stainless steel appliances and gorgeous laminate flooring all come standard in these well appointed suites.

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Elliot by Redekop Faye in Chilliwack

Elliot by Redekop Faye is a new 4-storey condo development located in Chilliwack. A contemporary fascade complemented by lush manicured grounds, perfectly complement The Elliot’s greenbelt setting. Oversize patios, granite counters, stainless steel appliances and gorgeous laminate flooring all come standard in these well appointed suites.

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Founders Block in North Vancouver

Founders Block by Anthem is a new townhouse development located in North Vancouver. This project will offer 92 townhomes & stacked townhomes. The family focused 3 and 4 bedroom homes feature West Coast Contemporary architecture and Scandinavian inspired interiors, some include legal suites and all are designed to LEED Gold sustainability standards. Founders Block provides more comfortable and smarter living spaces for growing families.

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Rodgers Creek Homes

Rodgers Creek Homes by Showmark Development Group is a new single family home development located in West Vancouver. Only 21 luxury Home Sites are available in this master-planned community, nestled in a private cul-de-sac. Return home to your private sanctuary and indulge in pure luxury living. Situated in West Vancouver, Rodgers Creek offers stunning panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean and city skyline. Your luxury home in a neighbourhood of distinction awaits.

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Founders Block in North Vancouver

Founders Block by Anthem is a new townhouse development located in North Vancouver. This project will offer 92 townhomes & stacked townhomes. The family focused 3 and 4 bedroom homes feature West Coast Contemporary architecture and Scandinavian inspired interiors, some include legal suites and all are designed to LEED Gold sustainability standards. Founders Block provides more comfortable and smarter living spaces for growing families.

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Rodgers Creek Homes

Rodgers Creek Homes by Showmark Development Group is a new single family home development located in West Vancouver. Only 21 luxury Home Sites are available in this master-planned community, nestled in a private cul-de-sac. Return home to your private sanctuary and indulge in pure luxury living. Situated in West Vancouver, Rodgers Creek offers stunning panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean and city skyline. Your luxury home in a neighbourhood of distinction awaits.

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Terrazzo in Abbotsford

Terrazzo by Bianco Developments is a new 6-storey condo development located in the heart of Abbotsford. This project will offer 70, 1,2 and 3 bedroom condominiums, sizes range from 1057 to 1341 sq ft. Enjoy the tranquility of a peaceful residential street, yet experience the convenience of having shopping, dining, schools, and recreation all near your doorstep. Choose a new way of living in downtown Abbotsford.

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Terrazzo in Abbotsford

Terrazzo by Bianco Developments is a new 6-storey condo development located in the heart of Abbotsford. This project will offer 70, 1,2 and 3 bedroom condominiums, sizes range from 1057 to 1341 sq ft. Enjoy the tranquility of a peaceful residential street, yet experience the convenience of having shopping, dining, schools, and recreation all near your doorstep. Choose a new way of living in downtown Abbotsford.

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Spires Gate in Richmond

Spires Gate by Alabaster Homes is a new townhouse development located in Central Richmond. This project will offer 63 intimate 3 and 4 bedroom townhomes, sizes range from 533 – 1,982 sq ft. Spires Gate draws from architectural traditions developed in England in the late 15th century, giving the homes a timeless look. The central courtyard allows for each home to have its own front entry and private outdoor living space.

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Spires Gate in Richmond

Spires Gate by Alabaster Homes is a new townhouse development located in Central Richmond. This project will offer 63 intimate 3 and 4 bedroom townhomes, sizes range from 533 – 1,982 sq ft. Spires Gate draws from architectural traditions developed in England in the late 15th century, giving the homes a timeless look. The central courtyard allows for each home to have its own front entry and private outdoor living space.

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Blooom Review – Finally, a Robo-Advisor for Your 401(k)

Struggling to manage your 401(k)? Do you wish you had a highly intelligent robot to do it for you? Your wish has been granted (well, it’s not an actual robot but you get the point). Here’s our review of blooom.

blooom

's rating
9.5
blooom
Cost 9.5
Features 9.8
Ease of Use 9.8
Technology 9.8
Customer Service 8.8

Pros

  • Reasonable fee
  • Works with all employer sponsored 401(k) plans
  • No account minimum
  • Suspicious activity alerts
  • Hybrid management available

Cons

  • Only for employer sponsored retirement accounts
  • Fee can be high for accounts with low balances
  • No customer service phone support available

Table of Contents

Do you ever get the feeling that you’re all alone when it comes to your employer sponsored retirement plan? It very well may be the single biggest financial asset account you have, and you’re thankful your employer offers the plan. But managing it, particularly the investment allocation part, is an ongoing struggle. If it is, help is just a click away. A service called blooom is available, and it works specifically with employer sponsored retirement plans.

The company claims it’s saved clients more than $600 million in collective lifetime fees. If you want to get in on the savings–and get help with managing your retirement plan–read on.

blooom home

blooom Website

About Blooom

Founded in 2013, and based in Leawood, Kansas, blooom is a registered investment advisory that’s in the business of managing employer sponsored retirement plans. This is a fairly rare but incredibly necessary service. Millions of people participate in these retirement plans, and are usually left to their own devices to make investment decisions.

blooom manages employer sponsored retirement plans. The company claims to be the only robo-advisor focused specifically on 401(k) plans. The service is not available for taxable accounts, which is increasingly the domain of robo-advisors. In fact, it doesn’t even manage IRA accounts.

Employer sponsored retirement plans managed by blooom include:

  • 401(k)
  • 403(b)
  • 401(a)
  • 457
  • Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)

Blooom is a robo investing service that can manage an employer plan no matter where it’s held. Sign up for the service yourself and use it for your plan, and there is no requirement for your employer to participate.
What’s more, blooom acts as a fiduciary. This means they are required by law to act in your best interests. Unlike some investment brokers, they don’t favor proprietary investments, that may be more fee-friendly to the broker. blooom works strictly with the investment options offered within your plan.

How Blooom Works

When you work with blooom, the service only manages your plan. You are the owner of the plan, and still retain complete control. And given that it’s an employer sponsored plan, there’s no need to move your account to a different platform. Blooom does not take custody of your plan.

Once you sign up for the service, blooom will adjust your portfolio allocation within 10 to 30 days. The allocation will be based on your investment time horizon, and will adjust accordingly. For example, the closer you are to your retirement age, the larger the bond allocation will be. If you’re farther away from retirement, your portfolio will be allocated primarily to stocks.

They start by looking at the investments available in your plan. These are more limited in some, and more generous in others. The emphasis will be on index funds that track the market, though they may occasionally use an actively managed fund if they consider it to be to your advantage. They’ll also eliminate funds that don’t make sense for your retirement goals.

Funds are selected by the blooom algorithm, based on a combination of fund expenses and the investment experience of the fund manager.

Blooom then monitors your account continuously for any changes in the funds available in your account.

Investment Fee Minimization

This is one of the most important services blooom provides. They actively look to help you avoid paying the fees that are inherent in the investment process.

They do this in one of three ways:

  • Exposing hidden investment management fees, buried in certain investment funds. These include fees that are deducted from your fund balance each year, so you may not even know you’re paying them.
  • Eliminating managed accounts. Some employer sponsored retirement plans work with investment brokers that offer investment management for a fee. blooom will move you away from these arrangements, since they often steer you into broker sponsored funds that may not be in your best interests.
  • Avoiding target date funds. These are sometimes referred to as a “fund of funds.” They invest in a mix of funds that are based on your age and retirement date. They’re good in theory, and growing in popularity. But the downside is that they charge very high fees.

Company Stock

It’s common for 401(k) plans to hold at least some money in company stock. Blooom recognizes this, but recommends company stock positions be held to not more than 20% of your total portfolio. They will not manage this portion of your plan, but they will recommend selling off stock in excess of 20% of your plan.

Dealing with Down Markets

Blooom’s position on market drops is that they are a time to increase holdings. As part of their rebalancing strategy, they will extract some money from the investments that have been doing the best, and add them to the positions that have done the worst. That could also include reducing your bond allocation, and increasing your stock position that has declined in value.

Self-directed Brokerage Accounts

Blooom will only manage the portion of your plan that is not self-directed. In that way, you can have part of your retirement plan managed by blooom, while going the DIY route with the rest of your plan.

blooom Features and Benefits

Hidden fee calculator. Since blooom is all about reducing the fees you pay in your retirement plan, they offer this tool to show you how much fees are costing you over several decades. When you see how much that number can be, the monthly fee charged by blooom will seem like a drop in the bucket compared to what you’ll be saving.

blooom hidden fees calculator

Save money with the hidden fee savings calculator.

Account rebalancing. Naturally the biggest rebalancing will be the first one, where your retirement portfolio is completely rearranged. Rebalancing will be a regular occurrence. This will be especially important if your employer plan changes investment options, or even investment brokers. Your retirement portfolio will then be rebalanced accordingly, based on the new options available.

Suspicious activity alerts. Most of us don’t think of identity theft or fraudulent activity in connection with retirement plans, especially those of the employer sponsored variety. But they actually can happen, and blooom works to prevent it. You’ll get text message alerts whenever funds are withdrawn from your retirement plan, or there’s any suspicious activity in the account.

Access to financial advisors. Blooom financial advisors are available anytime you have a question about your retirement plan.

Customer support. You can contact blooom by either live chat, or an email message form on the website. There is however no direct phone contact offered. Customer support is available Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, except holidays, Central time. Email inquiries after regular business hours will receive a response on the next business day.

Security. Blooom uses 56 bit encryption on their website to mak=e sure your data remains private. They also use bank level security for all personal information, as well as secure servers to protect information during online transactions. They also use third party verification to confirm your identity anytime you request a change in your account.

Try blooom

Blooom is a robo investing service that can manage an employer plan no matter where it’s held. Sign up for the service yourself and use it for your plan, and there is no requirement for your employer to participate.

 

 

How to Sign Up with blooom

To sign up for blooom, you need to begin by answering some basic questions to get the process rolling.

blooom signup

Quick and simple signup.

You will then provide your email address and create a password, and go from there.

The next step will be to log into your existing retirement plan account, and provide access to the account by blooom. The entire sign up process can be completed in just a few minutes.

Blooom then analyzes your account and makes any necessary changes within 10 to 30 days.

Blooom Pricing

You can start blooom with a free analysis of your retirement plan. The analysis can be completed in as little as five minutes. It will provide the following services:

  • Uncover hidden investment fees
  • See what you’re invested in
  • Give recommendations for stocks and bonds to help you achieve your retirement goals

For the premium version, you pay a fee of $10 per month. That includes management and monitoring of your account, including the following services:

  • All the service offered under the free analysis
  • Minimization of hidden fees
  • Regularly adjust your portfolio to make sure it remains aligned with your goals
  • Get expert financial help from blooom advisors, including questions beyond your retirement plan
  • Suspicious activity alerts, to protect your account

When you sign up for the premium version, you can cancel at any time. You can also get a 10% discount by paying the fee annually ($108 vs. $120 per year).

Blooom charges just $7.50 per month for each additional retirement account managed, so you can use the service if you have retirement plans from previous employers as well as your current one.

blooom Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • The fee of $10 per month is extremely reasonable for an employer sponsored retirement plan, especially for a larger account balance.
  • There is no requirement to move your account to a different investment platform, blooom works with the plan you have.
  • There is no minimum account size.
  • Blooom is one of the very few services that manages employer sponsored retirement plans.
  • The service works with the investments available in your company plan.
  • Blooom can be used even if your employer or plan administrator do not participate.
  • Suspicious activity alerts protect your account from fraudulent activity. That may not be common in employer sponsored retirement plans, but if it does happen it’s a complete disaster.
  • You can set up a hybrid management arrangement. blooom can manage part of your plan, while you go the self-directed route with the rest.

Cons:

  • The major disadvantage with blooom is that it works only with employer sponsored retirement plans. It’s not available for either taxable accounts or IRAs.
  • The fee of $120 per year will be high on smaller account balances. For example, it will represent a 6% fee on a $2,000 account, 2.4% on a $5,000 account, and 1.2% on a $10,000 account. The fee comes in line with other robo-advisors on accounts of at least $24,000, when it drops to 0.50%.
  • While blooom offers live chat and email support, there’s no phone contact.

Try Blooom

bloom Alternative

Unfortunately blooom is virtually unique in what they do. The only service that comes close is Personal Capital. They’ll analyze your 401(k) plan, then make suggestions to better allocate the assets in the plan, and even to select lower cost alternatives. But unlike blooom, Personal Capital doesn’t actively manage your plan.

But Personal Capital does have a few advantages. First you can use the free version to review and make allocation recommendations. Then you can use some of the tools they offer, like the 401(k) Fee Analyzer that shows what you’re paying for the funds in your plan, and suggests alternatives. They also have a full suite of retirement planning tools to help you better manage your plan.

But once again, unlike blooom, Personal Capital doesn’t offer direct 401(k) plan management. That’s what makes blooom so attractive.

FAQs

Question: Once blooom decides on my investment allocation, can I make changes?

Answer: You can log into your account and change your risk profile, which will adjust your asset allocation accordingly. You can do this simply by clicking on the button that says “Risk Tolerance” under the “My Profile” dropdown. Changes in your investment allocation will be made upon the next portfolio rebalancing.

That said, since you are the owner of your employer sponsored retirement plan, you have full control of the plan. If you ever want to make a change in the plan, you could simply do so in the normal way that you would. That usually involves contacting the plan custodian, and providing investment instructions.

Question: My employer sponsored retirement plan is held with a major diversified investment brokerage that offers unlimited investments and superior customer support. Can I get the same investment advice from them that I’d get from blooom, but without having to pay the $10 per month fee?

Answer: There’s a huge difference between customer support and financial advice. Large brokerage firms often do have excellent customer support, but their advice is limited to technical matters. For example, while they may be able to give you information about a specific security, they can’t make recommendations as to which investments you buy or sell. Nor can they create and manage a portfolio allocation for you in any way. The role of customer support with large brokerage firms is strictly to facilitate the trading process, and not to provide specific financial advice.

Question: Is blooom an actual robo-advisor, or just an investment advisory that makes investment recommendations that I’ll actually have to carry out?

Answer: It’s a robo-advisor. Once you sign up for the service, blooom will handle all the investment management issues concerning your retirement plan. Your job will be only to continue funding your plan, while blooom handles all the management details.

Question: Why doesn’t blooom manage other accounts, particularly IRAs?

Answer: The company has decided to focus on providing management for employer sponsored retirement plans, since it’s an entirely overlooked corner of the investment universe. But they do hint that IRA management may be coming in the future.

Question: I have a 401(k) balance of $5,000, making the $120 annual fee 2.4%? Is that too high to justify using blooom.

Answer: From a strictly financial standpoint, a fee equal of 2.4% is too high. But you have to weigh that against professional management of your plan. If you have little or no investment management experience, the fee will be worth paying. This is especially true if you’re making regular contributions to the plan and increasing the balance quickly. After all, the whole point of a retirement plan is to grow it.

The best way to do that is through a combination of regular contributions and steady earnings on your investments. You’ll handle the contributions, while blooom will take care of the earnings part. It may be worth absorbing the relatively higher management fee early on to help you get to that point.

Should You Sign Up with Blooom?

A lot of employees are very good at the job they do. But they may have very little understanding on how to manage their employer sponsored retirement plan. After all, you can always use a robo-advisor to manage taxable accounts or IRAs. But there’s no other similar management capability available for what is–or will eventually become–the largest single financial asset you’re likely to have.

This is the role that’s filled by blooom, and they do it at a very reasonable fee structure. While it’s true the fee is high on smaller accounts, at least on a percentage basis, it may be the best way to turn a small account into a large one. And once your account grows to at least $24,000, blooom’s fee structure becomes very competitive with other robo-advisors, at 0.50% or less.

In fact, it becomes very cost effective on large retirement plans. For example, if you have $100,000 in your retirement plan, the $120 annual fee will represent just 0.12%, which is well below the fee charged by the vast majority of robo-advisors.

If you’re concerned with a lackluster performance in your employer sponsored retirement plan, you feel that you’re paying too much in fees, or you lack sufficient knowledge to manage the plan on your own, blooom is an excellent service to remedy all those complications.

If you’d like more information, or if you’d like to sign up for the service, visit the blooom website.

Topics: Retirement PlanningReviews

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Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Vista in Burquitlam

Vista by Dolomiti Homes is a new 6-storey condo development located in Burquitlam. This project will offer 73 unites, sizes range from 464 to 1043 sqft. Elegant homes intimately contained within a modern westcoast design, Vista has been designed and developed with Italian craftsmanship.Vista is centrally located in Burquitlam minutes from SkyTrain, surrounded by the essentials and luxuries of everyday living. More than a home, Vista is where you will love to live.

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Vista in Burquitlam

Vista by Dolomiti Homes is a new 6-storey condo development located in Burquitlam. This project will offer 73 unites, sizes range from 464 to 1043 sqft. Elegant homes intimately contained within a modern westcoast design, Vista has been designed and developed with Italian craftsmanship.Vista is centrally located in Burquitlam minutes from SkyTrain, surrounded by the essentials and luxuries of everyday living. More than a home, Vista is where you will love to live.

The post Vista in Burquitlam appeared first on Vancouver New Condos.



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Motif Investing Review – Design Your Own Motif

If you’re looking for a truly unique investment platform, look no further than Motif Investing. We’ll discuss the fees, go through the pros and cons and let you know if it’s right for you in our Motif Investing review.

Motif Investing

Kevin Mercadante's rating
8.9
Motif Investing
Fees 8.5
Ease of Use 9.5
Diversification 9.0
Customer Service 8.5

Pros

  • Select pre-existing portfolios or create your own
  • Socially responsible investing available
  • No minimum to open an account
  • IPOs available for small investors
  • Crypto Portfolio coming soon

Cons

  • Fees can be high
  • Limited individual stock trading
  • Limited customer service hours

Table of Contents

Motif Investing offers a diverse combination of self-directed investments, but with all the benefits of robo-advisor management. You have the option to either invest in pre-built mini-portfolios, or to create new ones of your own design. You can even earn some money if other investors on the platform invest in your portfolios. Plus, Motif Investing offers socially responsible investing, initial public offerings, and soon, cryptocurrencies.

What is Motif Investing?

Based in Rancho Cordova, California, and founded in 2010, Motif Investing is part online brokerage firm–in that you can choose your own investments–and part robo-advisor, since it manages your holdings for you. And that makes it one of the most unique and innovative investment platforms available.

But that’s only the beginning. Motif allows you to invest in pre-designed portfolios, called motifs, or to create your own. You can do this using a mix of stocks in exchange traded funds (ETFs), and build your motif around any investment theme or objective you choose.

However, in recent years, Motif Investing has been steadily expanding their product menu. They now enable you to invest in socially responsible investing, initial public offerings, and soon, cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.

There are a lot of innovative investment platforms available today, but Motif Investing is near the top of that list. The platform currently has more than 350,000 customers, including heavyweights such as Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, a U.S. Bank.

Motif Investing has a Better Business Bureau rating of B+ (on a scale of A+ to F), though the company is not BBB accredited.

How Motif Investing Works

Motif has become such a diversified investment platform that you have several choices for how you can invest. You can start by opening a Trading Account, which requires no initial investment. You can use that account to trade individual stocks and ETFs, but also invest in what the company calls motifs.

Motifs are both the operative word in the company’s name, as well as the most basic investment methodology the platform provides.

A motif is actually a portfolio that contains up to 30 investments. Those investments are a mix of stocks and ETFs. The company offers dozens of pre-built motifs for you to choose from. But if you decide you have an idea to create your own motif, you can do just that. You can build a motif theme around just about any investment idea you have.

Once you invest in a motif, or create one, it will be fully managed for you by Motif Investing.

In addition to opening a Trading Account, you can also invest in any of the other portfolios available through Motif Investing. The company has branched out into a variety of different investment areas, and promises to develop even more.

Motif Investing Features and Benefits

Minimum initial investment: Since Motif Investing has several different investment models, it also has individual minimums for each:

  • Trading accounts, $0
  • Motifs, $300
  • Motif Impact Portfolios, $1,000
  • Margin accounts, $2,000

Available accounts: Individual and joint taxable accounts; traditional, Roth, and rollover IRAs; trust accounts.

Available investments: All U.S. exchange listed stocks, ETFs and American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).

Account clearing agent and custodian: Funds invested with Motif Investing are held with Pershing, LLC, one of the largest financial institutions in the world, with nearly $1 trillion in assets under administration.

Margin accounts: Motif Investing offers margin trading. It requires a minimum account balance of $2,000. If your balance drops below this level, a margin call will be issued, and you’ll have to deposit additional funds. Current margin rates vary from 8.25% for balances in excess of $500,000, to 10.75% for balances under $10,000.

Margin investing is available only for direct stock and ETF purchases. It cannot be used in conjunction with motif portfolios.

Portfolio rebalancing: Yes.

Fractional shares: Motif Investing allows you to trade as little as .01 shares of stock. That will give you the ability to build a portfolio of fractional shares with a small investment.

Mobile app: In addition to the web version, Motif Investing can be downloaded on iOS (9.3 or later) at The App Store, and on Android devices (4.4 and up) on Google Play.

Customer service. Motif can be contacted by either phone or by e-mail, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Eastern time, Monday through Friday.

Account security. Your account is covered by SIPC, which protects against broker failure (not market losses). Your account is protected for up to $500,000 in securities and cash, including up to $250,000 in cash.

For protection of information, Motif uses firewalls and security technology, including secure socket layer (SSL) technology.

Motif Blue

This service is available for $19.95 per month, and offers the following benefits:

  • Three monthly real time trades, commission-free
  • Unlimited commission-free next market open trades
  • Real time quotes

Motif Investing Investment Methodology

Motif offers seven different portfolios, including four for individuals, and three for institutional investors. In this review, we’re going to focus only on the portfolios for individual investors.

Individual Investor Portfolio Options

Portfolio options for individual investors

Motif Thematic Portfolios

These are the portfolios (“motifs”) that Motif has been known for since the beginning. They provide theme-based portfolios, based on investment objectives they create. Each portfolio is made of up of a basket of up to 30 individual stocks and ETFs. But Motif has more than 150 prebuilt portfolios, and you also have the option to create your own.

Motif identifies trends, and then analyzes data sets using advanced algorithms to determine the companies that represent the drivers in a particular trend. From there, they construct a portfolio based on a given theme.

The portfolios have a serious objective, even though they’re often given cute names. For example, one motif is called Repeal Obamacare. The portfolio emphasizes companies likely to gain in the event Obamacare is repealed.

Some other pre-built motifs include Online Video, Shale Oil, Casino Gambling, Deflation, Precious Metals, and Cyber Security. Each motif is constructed around the basic theme, and includes investments that match the objective.

Once again, Thematic Portfolios require a minimum of $300 per motif. You can buy or build up to 250 individual motifs. And once you create a unique motif, you can make it available to other Motif investors.

Bonus: Under Motif’s Creator Royalty Program, you’ll get $1 each time another investor buys or rebalances a motif you’ve built. Royalties earned will be paid approximately 15 days after the end of the quarter.

Impact Portfolios

These are Motif Investing’s socially responsible investing portfolios. These are fully automated portfolios designed to align with both your personal values and your investment objectives.

Each Impact Portfolio is comprised of stocks and ETFs from different asset classes, including:

  1. U.S. stocks
  2. Developed market stocks
  3. Emerging market stocks
  4. Real estate stocks
  5. Commodities stocks
  6. U.S. bonds
  7. International bonds

They also employ tax-aware auto investing to minimize asset sales, reducing capital gains taxes. Each portfolio requires a minimum of $1,000 to invest. There are currently three portfolios in this group:

  • Sustainable Planet. Includes stocks of companies that actively practice sustainability to reduce their carbon footprint.
  • Fair Labor. Invests in companies promoting job security, safe working conditions and fair wages.
  • Good Corporate Governance. This portfolio is invested in companies that demonstrate strong ethical track records toward accountability, fairness, and transparency.

You can also change the asset allocation in any of the above portfolios, based on your own personal preferences.

Initial Public Offerings

Motif Investing enables you to open a Motif account that will allow you to participate in an initial public offering (IPO). You select an investment amount, place a conditional offer, then receive your IPO shares.

One of the major advantages of the Motif Initial Public Offering is that it gives the small investor an opportunity to participate in one of the most profitable investment activities there is. Historically, IPO investing has been available only to institutions and the very wealthy. But you can now participate in IPOs with as little as $250. And that initial investment is commission-free.

Motif IPO Opportunities

Motif IPOs

Since IPOs are fairly infrequent, you can sign up for notifications, giving you an opportunity to participate as they become available. Motif has previously given individual investors access to more than 100 IPOs, including Redfin, Trivago and ADT.

Crypto Portfolios

This portfolio option will be rolled out soon. In the meantime, you can put your name on a waitlist to reserve your spot when it becomes available. Since the portfolio is not yet available, the web site provides little information. However, it looks like it will provide an opportunity to add “Bitcoin and digital assets” to your portfolio.

You’ll have to stay tuned for this one, or add your name to the waitlist.

Motif Investing Fees

Motif Investing has two management fee plans:

  1. Motif Thematic Portfolios, 0.50%
  2. Motif Impact Portfolios, 0.25%

Build Your Own Portfolio trading fees are as follows:

Motif trading fee prices

Motif trading fees

Notice that there are two sets of fees. The first is for trades executed on the next market day. But if you opt for immediate, real-time trades, the fees are much higher. For example, if you want to purchase a stock or ETF in real time, the fee is $4.95 per trade. But if you wait for the next market open, the fee is $0. Also, broker assisted trades are a steep $29.95 if executed in real time.

The fee to buy into or create your own motif will double if you want to execute the order in real time. This can make motif fees prohibitive on minimum investment amounts, like $300.

IRA fees. Motif Investing charges a fee of $10 per quarter, unless your account has any of the following:

  • A Motif Blue subscription
  • A balance greater than $10,000
  • You’ve made commission trades in the last three months

There is also an IRA termination fee of $95.

How to Sign Up with Motif Investing

To open an account with Motif Investing you must be at least 18 years old and a citizen or permanent resident of the U.S.

You’ll start by entering your email address then creating a password. You’ll be required to enter the typical information needed to open a brokerage account, including your physical address, full name, Social Security number, and driver’s license. You may also be asked to verify your employment and income.

Funding your account. You can transfer money to your account by ACH once you link your bank account. But you can also move funds from another financial institution by wire transfer.

If you fund your account by check, you will need to make it payable to Pershing LLC, the account clearing agent and custodian.

Motif Investing Alternatives

On balance, Motif is an excellent investment platform, but like any other, it isn’t perfect. For example, though it offers trading of individual stocks the ETFs, it doesn’t offer the support and tools that you’ll find on more established trading platforms.

One example is TD Ameritrade. Though its trading fees are higher than Motif’s at $6.95 per trade, it’s a full service trading platform, that allows you to trade in real time. As well, it also offers its Essential Portfolios robo-advisor, if you also want a managed option for at least some of your portfolio.

But an investment platform similar to Motif in many ways is M1 Finance. Similar to Motif Investing’s motifs, M1 Finance offers investment “pies”–both are custom made mini-portfolios but M1’s pies are commission-free.

Meanwhile if you’re looking for a full-on robo-advisor to manage your money at a very low fee (like 0.25% per year), plus a socially responsible investing option, check out Betterment, Wealthfront or Swell Investing.

Motif Investing Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • Select pre-existing motifs (portfolios) built around very specific investment themes, or create your own.
  • The ability to create your own motif gives you an opportunity to create very specific investment opportunities, with no more than 30 securities.
  • Once established, motifs and other portfolios will be fully managed for you, as a robo-advisor. Your only responsibility is to fund existing or new motifs and portfolios.
  • Motif Impact Portfolios can offer you an opportunity to participate in socially responsible investing through predetermined portfolios which you can then customize.
  • You can open an account with no money, then began investing in your first motif once you have at least $300 in the account.
  • Next day stock and ETF trades can be executed for free.
  • Motif Initial Public Offering allows small investors to participate in IPOs with as little as $250. This is one of the most profitable investment areas, historically available only for large investors. But Motif is making available for the masses.
  • Though it isn’t out yet, the Crypto Portfolio will enable you to invest in Bitcoin and other digital assets. Up to this point, the ability to invest in cryptocurrencies directly remains a bit of a mystery to most investors.

Cons:

  • The fee structure of $9.95 per motif for Thematic Portfolios is a lot to pay for a portfolio as small as $300.
  • Fees for real-time trading are even higher, and not competitive with other brokerage firms that trade in real-time as a regular practice.
  • Though Motif Investing now allows you to trade individual stocks, the platform is fairly limited compared to more established brokerage firms when it comes to trading.
  • Customer service is limited to regular business hours. You won’t be able to contact the company if you have questions or concerns after hours, or on weekends or holidays.
  • Motif Investing does not pay interest on uninvested cash.
  • You can invest with stocks and ETFs, but not mutual funds, options or other investments.

FAQs

Question: Does Motif reinvest dividends?

Answer: Yes. If the dividend is paid in cash, it will be held in your cash account. Once the cash balance reaches $250, it will be automatically invested toward your target allocation.

Question: How can I withdraw money from my account?

Answer: You can transfer money in or out of your account to and from your linked bank account by ACH. You can also request a check be issued from Motif Investing by contacting customer service.

Question: Can I set up recurring deposits to increase my account balance?

Answer: Yes. From the Motif dashboard, you can go to “Account” and click “Transfer Money”. You can select either “Deposit Funds” or “Withdraw Funds”, then click “Set as a recurring deposit/withdrawal”. You can then set the amount and the date of the recurring deposits or withdrawals.

Should You Sign Up for Motif Investing?

Motif has the kinds of investment opportunities that will likely be of interest to most investors. You can trade individual stocks and ETFs, but it’s not necessarily the best platform for that purpose. But more importantly, you’ll have an opportunity to invest in a multitude of theme oriented portfolios, called motifs, where you can build a portfolio based on a particular investment strategy or concept.

You also have the opportunity to invest in socially responsible investing and initial public offerings. As well, the cryptocurrencies portfolio that’s in the pipeline will enable you to take at least a small position in one of the most exciting asset classes of the 21st century.

There may be other investment platforms that do certain things better than Motif. But very few offer the combination of unique investment opportunities Motif provides, particularly among robo-advisors.

At a minimum, Motif Investing seems like the kind of investment platform where you’ll want to have at least a small portion of your portfolio, to take advantages of opportunities like IPOs and cryptocurrencies, as well as building your own portfolios–complete with all the benefits of robo-advisor management.

If you’d like more information, or if you’d like to sign up for the investing service, visit the Motif Investing website.

Topics: Investing

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